It's not that I'm underwhelmed, it's more that I think that the iPhone was a more momentous launch and will ultimately have more historical resonance.
Don't get me wrong, I'm drooling for the iPad. The technology looks solid and the size seems great, especially for some of the eyestrain apps I've been using on my iPhone. The price point is far more forgiving than I had ever anticipated, but the truth is that all the hype made the launch somewhat anti-climatic and got me thinking about historical implications.

There are a lot of things I love about Apple, but what I've loved the most is their ability to create disruptive prodcuts that wed brilliant product design with killer user interface. iPod and iTunes achieved this to a degree, but this was more about legitimizing and streamlining what people had been doing for years on Napster and LimeWire. iPhone was more of a paradigm shift. While it took a fair amount of its design approach from the iPod, it's biggest impact was to yank the mobile phone out of the Telcos' grasp and put it into the hands of end users. Post iPhone the Telcos' job is now about providing bandwidth instead of software or sleazy pricing traps. And even that remains a challenge for them. More importantly the iPhone moved hardware and software innovation into the hands of developers and end users with Apps and the App store.

The iPad, at first glance, doesn't feel like the same kind of event for me. True,It could be that I'm regretting forking over the bucks for a Kindle a year ago, but there's something about the Kindle that also feels right and gamechanging in the way the iPad does not.

I haven't read any of the post launch spin, so I may change my mind by tomorrow, but for now I think I'll wait for Version 2.